CALLAHAN TALKS NEWBURY

posted
August 29th, 2011

2011 will always be remembered fondly by all of us here at Drag City, and not just because it turned out to be last year before The Great Disaster. As always, there are many amazing records we've been so psyched to put out this year (in fact, about twice as many as usual) - but certainly one of the most mind-bending release for us has been the Mickey Newbury reissue set, An American Trilogy. I mean, these are records that first came out on Elektra and Mercury! Sharing a little bit of history with those guys is weird and wild - but it's the singer/songwriter whose name is on the records that totally knocks us out. The late Mickey Newbury is one of the lesser-sung heroes of the 60s-70s era, but if we have anything to do with it, the singing of his praises will continue on! Looks Like Rain, 'Frisco Mabel Joy and Heaven Help the Child are records that will repay the time you spend seeking them out, and we're pleased to be able to make the journey a little shorter for you with the LP reissues of each of them (along with a fourth LP of previously unreleased material of the same early 70s vintage, Better Days) as well as the first ever release of the original masters in digital form. It means, yeah, you can point and click on this stuff and download it from yer iTunes and so forth - but it also means you can buy this sweet 4xCD collection of all four albums, An American Trilogy. It looks and sounds great!

We're not the only ones pleased by this development. Other people whose names you may have heard are lining up to congratulate us on this score. In the first of a series of testimonials, here's Bill Callahan on what ol' Mickey means to him:

"I'm always surprised when I listen to a Mickey Newbury record how encompassing they are. They are whole worlds within themselves, galaxies or minds. The music takes you there and holds you there. Few things have the power to do something so big. And the calmness he shows, within the grips of such power. From what I've read, it seems like some of the people around him at the time would hear his music and be worried for him! Messing with this stuff is beyond most men and women. But he always said, "I write my sadness." He puts all our sadness there, and joy and the rest of it. The songs are lifeblood."

Cheers, Bill. So what are you waiting for, dear potential listener? An American Trilogy and LP versions of all four records are available here and now!